Five years of Berlin–Beijing - Congratulations Hainan Airlines

06.09.2013

Hainan Airlines has been operating non-stop flights between Berlin and Beijing for the past five years / The number of visitors to Berlin from China and Hong Kong has more than doubled

Hainan Airlines, China's fourth-largest airline, started operating non-stop flights from Berlin to Beijing in September 2008. The airline is now celebrating five years of service between the German and Chinese capital. Since 2008, around 260,000 passengers have been transported on the route.

Hartmut Mehdorn, Chief Executive Officer of Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH: "The Berlin–Beijing connection increases the number of attractive flight offerings in the capital region. I would like to sincerely congratulate Hainan Airlines on this anniversary and look forward to continuing our successful cooperation in the years to come."

Mr Zhiwei Shi, General Manager, Hainan Airlines Germany: "The flights to and from Berlin have become an important mainstay for our company. We see the connection between the capitals of Berlin and Beijing as a means of significantly promoting economic and cultural exchange between the two countries. We look forward to continuing to be a reliable partner in helping to bring Germany and China closer together."

Boom in Chinese visitors to Berlin

The importance of the route is also evidenced by the number of visitors to the Berlin capital from China and Hong Kong. Both the number of visitors and overnight stays in Berlin have more than doubled since 2008, with 68,007 overnight stays being recorded in 2008 and 153,472 in 2012.

Five-star service

Hainan Airlines flies up to five times a week in around 9.5 hours non-stop to Beijing; the service is operated with modern Airbus A330-200 aircraft. The flights are marketed by Hainan Airlines in a codeshare with airberlin, which offers feeder flights under Hainan Airline's flight numbers from around Europe to Berlin for this service. Alternatively, in most booking classes Hainan Airlines offers free train tickets with Deutsche Bahn to Berlin for passengers using this service. Travellers can easily transfer to connecting flights in Beijing and fly with Hainan Airlines to 60 destinations in Asia. Hainan Airlines' services have been awarded five stars by the renowned airline rating portal Skytrax for the third consecutive time.